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Author Topic: Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.  (Read 4712 times)

Switchblade

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« on: 21 Oct 2005, 15:03 »
... but then came to enjoy!

Myth (My uni's society for all things geeky) just held it's weekly anime night. On request, we wound up watching "Fruits Basket"

Bear in mind, this is a room full of british RPers, film students, deathmatch champions and nerds. I'm by far the least extreme of the lot.

Every single one of us was hooked by the end of the third episode. Seriously, it looks like a cute overload, but when the guy runing the DVD player asked if we wanted to switch over to "Full Metal Alchemist" at the end of the second episode, only one person in the room said "yes".

For starters, the English translation and voice-acting are top-notch, and it manages to pull off the typical manga comedy tropes (sweat drops, purple lines, black angry crosses, blank eyes, comedy sound effects etc) tastefully and makes them look good. Normally, those things really turn me off a show. This time around, I felt they really added to its appeal.

There's also the small matter of all the characters - the abrasive, irritable one included - being almost immediately likeable in their own way.

The first image we had of it was almost identical to that website, and as you can imagine, the general attitude was "we'll watch one episode to humour Lucy, and then watch something with 'splodes". It was nice to be so pleasantly surprised. That show has some genuine charm to it.

Anybody else have a similar reaction to anything? Initial dismissal, followed by almost immediate enjoyment when you actually give it a go?
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RUMBLEMOOSE

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #1 on: 21 Oct 2005, 17:03 »
Some of my favorite albums started out getting shoved to the back of my collection and only appreciated later. The first Superdrag album didn't impress me in the slightest, and I put it away for three years. When I listened to it again to make sure I wanted to sell it, I loved it. And I couldn't get into Mellow Gold at first, either, but two years later I became a monstrous Beck devotee. And I think it took me nearly ten years to get into Old Time Relijun; I remember hating Uterus and Fire, but I saw them live a week ago and they were amazing. It also took me eight years to get into Sonic Youth, after hearing Goo in 1994 and Daydream Nation in 2002.

As for non-music: at an anime convention, I walked into a showing of Princess Tutu by accident and didn't leave until it was finished. I think a lot of the audience had a similar reaction: it's way more sophisticated than I'd expected from a show about a magical ballerina.
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neomang5

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #2 on: 21 Oct 2005, 19:27 »
Dude, i was the EXACT same way about Fruits Basket, but i absolutely love it now.
I was also skeptical about Full Metal Alchemist and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, both of which I now am enamored with.

Another nice surprise was the show Danny Phantom. I have steered clear of Nickelodeon cartoons since 2000, but honestly, this one has alot of the qualities that made their old stuff great, and a decent set of plotlines. Not the best drawn show, but I like it alot now.

Also, the Eragon and Eldest books by Christopher Paolini. They are awesome. Much better than you'd expect from a 15 year old (thats how old he was when he wrote the first book, he's about 18 now.)
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Blue Kitty

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #3 on: 21 Oct 2005, 20:02 »
lost
fruit basket
and full metal panic
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Daniel

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #4 on: 21 Oct 2005, 23:49 »
The OC!
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GebStar

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #5 on: 22 Oct 2005, 02:04 »
^
  ||

Not sure if it was sarcasm, but that was the same for me. I have a tendancy to hate everything that other people like, but bored one night, i watched about the sixth episode, liked it and when it's on i'll watch it.
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Daniel

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #6 on: 22 Oct 2005, 02:29 »
No sarcasm there - initially I just gave it a glance and dismissed it as Crap.

But then halfway through the second season it kept being on tv while I was doing nothing, so I started half-watching it. And then there was the "Rainy Day Women" episode... and I just fell in love with the show. I've bought the first two seasons on DVD, and I'm looking forward to the third - I wish it didn't take so long to air here.
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Praeserpium Machinarum

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #7 on: 22 Oct 2005, 03:59 »
Firefly, at first I thought the western-space adventure idea was silly and the theme song perhaps the worst ever conceived. I still think that, but I learned to tolerate it, mainly because the dialogue, the characters are just so good. I can apparently accept a lot of silly stuff as long as the dialogue and the characters are mint. Another thing was that I didn't like Buffy because of Whedon's apparent love for silliness. However I did like Angel in the beginning but it turned silly too. Now I am not against fun but the fun should be contrast by sincerity, it does not work if the story and the characters are just vehicles for endless(repeated) jokes.
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Daniel

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #8 on: 22 Oct 2005, 22:39 »
Quote from: Praeserpium Machinarum
Firefly, at first I thought the western-space adventure idea was silly and the theme song perhaps the worst ever conceived. I still think that, but I learned to tolerate it, mainly because the dialogue, the characters are just so good. I can apparently accept a lot of silly stuff as long as the dialogue and the characters are mint. Another thing was that I didn't like Buffy because of Whedon's apparent love for silliness. However I did like Angel in the beginning but it turned silly too. Now I am not against fun but the fun should be contrast by sincerity, it does not work if the story and the characters are just vehicles for endless(repeated) jokes.

I'd really have to disagree with you about Buffy/Angel - I think both of those shows did a lot better than most when it came to balancing sillyness with genuine heart. For all the comedy, there was equal amounts of drama, horror, romance and tragedy.  

I like the Firefly theme, too.
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Bunnyman

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #9 on: 23 Oct 2005, 00:10 »
Hmm...I actually liked Buffy, but only because I didn't take a single bit of it seriously and I had seen Firefly previously.

Firefly was silly, campy, and sometimes very awkwardly paced, but it hung together well.  Whedon can make the most tedious premise at least watchable.  Firefly was rather addictive.

Miami Vice.  Actually, surprisingly entertaining.  Just accept it as an artefact of the 80's, sit back, and enjoy the camp.
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Not An Addict

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Shows and stuff that you were sceptical of at first glance.
« Reply #10 on: 23 Oct 2005, 09:48 »
Speaking of Buffy, when the show first debuted I was skeptical to say the least. I had seen the movie and liked it (I was 12, shut up), and the show was too much of a 'departure' for me. I mean, she didn't just fight vampires, she fought demons and ghosts and stuff! And the blonde girl wasn't Kristy Swanson! I was turned off. About three years later I finally decided to tune in after hearing all I'd been missing, and I've been hooked ever since. (Well, hooked on the DVDs, anyway. Seasons 5-7 pretty much blew.)

Word to the poster above who said Buffy had the perfect mix of comedy, drama, and emotion. Watch some of the season 2 and 3 episodes; many of them are staggeringly well-written.
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